Data Centers in San Diego

San Diego – Southern California Edge & Research Hub

San Diego is an excellent market for enterprises in the life sciences, defense, and technology sectors requiring low-latency connectivity to Southern California and near-shore Latin America. Its solid network infrastructure provides a reliable alternative to Los Angeles for disaster recovery and edge computing, ensuring high uptime for critical applications.

San Diego: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

San Diego provides a resilient and well-connected environment, acting as a key edge market and a viable disaster recovery alternative to the primary Los Angeles hub.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: The market features over 15 distinct network providers as of September 2025. Most of the 15 colocation facilities in the area operate on a carrier-neutral basis, offering good interconnection flexibility.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: There are no direct public cloud on-ramps within San Diego's data centers as of September 2025. Secure, private connections to all major cloud providers, including AWS, Google Cloud (GCP), and Microsoft Azure, are typically established via dedicated circuits to facilities in the Los Angeles area.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): Public peering is limited within San Diego. Most network peering is conducted privately between carriers or routed through major internet exchanges in Los Angeles to achieve efficient traffic exchange.

Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are available in the San Diego market. Providers like phoenixNAP offer dedicated server hosting, enabling businesses to deploy high-performance computing without managing their own hardware.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity rates are estimated between $0.19 and $0.24 per kWh as of September 2025. These costs, higher than the national average, reflect California's grid investments and renewable energy mandates. California's grid is composed of approximately 45% fossil fuels (mostly natural gas), 40% renewables, and 8% nuclear power.

Power Grid Reliability: The power grid serving San Diego's main data center zones is well-engineered for reliability. The infrastructure is supported by a mature utility provider, though the statewide grid can be subject to strain during peak demand periods like heatwaves.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts: San Diego data centers are strategically located to serve the region's prominent biotech, life sciences, defense, and telecommunications industries concentrated in Sorrento Valley, University City, and Carlsbad. This proximity enables low-latency connectivity for research, development, and operational workloads.

Regional Market Reach: The market provides effective, low-latency coverage for the entire San Diego County, Tijuana (Mexico), and the broader Southern California region. It serves as an important edge location for content delivery and services targeting a population of over 20 million people.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: California offers several tax and incentive programs that can benefit data center operators and tenants. These include statewide energy efficiency rebate programs and specific local incentives, which help offset operational expenses related to power consumption and investment in green technologies.

Natural Disaster Risk

San Diego has a High natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 89.02 as of September 2025. This score indicates a significant exposure to certain environmental threats compared to the rest of the United States.

The primary risks for infrastructure in the region are:

• Earthquake
• Wildfire
• Drought
• Heatwave
• Landslide
• Riverine Flooding